1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to predictive RF beamforming for transmission of data to head mounted displays (HMDs), and related methods, apparatus, and systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
The video game industry has seen many changes over the years. As computing power has expanded, developers of video games have likewise created game software that takes advantage of these increases in computing power. To this end, video game developers have been coding games that incorporate sophisticated operations and mathematics to produce very detailed and engaging gaming experiences.
Example gaming platforms include the Sony Playstation®, Sony Playstation2® (PS2), Sony Playstation3® (PS3), and Sony Playstation4® (PS4), each of which is sold in the form of a game console. As is well known, the game console is designed to connect to a display (typically a television) and enable user interaction through handheld controllers. The game console is designed with specialized processing hardware, including a CPU, a graphics synthesizer for processing intensive graphics operations, a vector unit for performing geometry transformations, and other glue hardware, firmware, and software. The game console may be further designed with an optical disc reader for receiving game discs for local play through the game console. Online gaming is also possible, where a user can interactively play against or with other users over the Internet. As game complexity continues to intrigue players, game and hardware manufacturers have continued to innovate to enable additional interactivity and computer programs.
A growing trend in the computer gaming industry is to develop games that increase the interaction between the user and the gaming system. One way of accomplishing a richer interactive experience is to use wireless game controllers whose movement is tracked by the gaming system in order to track the player's movements and use these movements as inputs for the game. Generally speaking, gesture input refers to having an electronic device such as a computing system, video game console, smart appliance, etc., react to some gesture made by the player and captured by the electronic device.
Another way of accomplishing a more immersive interactive experience is to use a head-mounted display. A head-mounted display is worn by the user and can be configured to present various graphics, such as a view of a virtual space. The graphics presented on a head-mounted display can cover a large portion or even all of a user's field of view. Hence, a head-mounted display can provide a visually immersive experience to the user.
A head-mounted display (HMD) provides an immersive virtual reality experience, as the HMD renders a real-time view of the virtual environment in a manner that is responsive to the user's movements. The user wearing an HMD is afforded freedom of movement in all directions, and accordingly can be provided a view of the virtual environment in all directions via the HMD. However, the processing resources required to generate the video for rendering on the HMD are considerable and therefore handled by a separate computing device, such as a personal computer or a game console. The computing device generates the video for rendering to the HMD, and transmits the video to the HMD.
To provide a high fidelity experience, it is desirable to provide high quality video (e.g. at high resolution and frame rate). However, such video entails transmission of large amounts of data, requiring high bandwidth and a stable connection. Thus, current systems for HMD rendering use a wired connection to transfer data from the computing device to the HMD, as this affords the requisite bandwidth and connection stability. However, the presence of a wire that connects to the HMD can be bothersome to the user, as it may contact the user and detract from the immersive experience of using the HMD. Furthermore, the wired connection may inhibit the user's freedom of movement, as the user must be mindful of not over-extending the wire, and must avoid any movement which might cause disconnection or damage the wire. Furthermore, the presence of the wire presents a tripping hazard, which is amplified by the fact that the user cannot see the real environment while using the HMD.
It is in this context that implementations of the disclosure arise.